Metallized scouring article and method of making same



Nov. 5, 1963 J. A. CAMERON METALLIZED SCOURING ARTICLE AND METHOD OFMAKING SAME Filed Aug. 30, 1960 FIG. 2

INVENTOR Jghn A Comero n Wciwl i W iq I N D- M, ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent Foods Corporation, White Plains, N.Y., a corporation of DelawareFiled Aug. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 53,602 9 Slaims. (Cl. 15-209) Thisinvention relates to a scouring device of the type used in the home andin various industrial areas. Metal wool, for example so-called steelwool, has gained wide acceptance as a material from which scouringarticles can be formed. Securing and polishing pads made from steel woolwhich has been matted or felted together, or intertwined or interwoveninto a mass of filamentsyare marketed in a variety of sizes and shapes.These pads have proved highly effective as household cleaning agents,being widely used to scour such articles as pots and pans. The pads arealso well adapted to industrial uses, such as for removing old Waxesfrom a fioor area preparatory to the reapplication of wax.

However, it is well known that metal wool scouring pads have severalundesirable characteristics. Metal wool, itself, is harsh and unpleasantto the touch. Rusting may occur after several immersions of a pad inwater, and the rusted pad is both unsightly and disagreeable to handle.Moreover, there is a tendency for metal wool to break or splinter, whichcan result in slivers of the metal entering the skin of the user orbeing left as a residue on the scoured structure, the latter requiringan uneconomical clean-up period after scouring.

It has long been a goal of the trade to provide a scouring article whichincorporates the effective abrasive characteristics of a steel woolscouring pad and further embodies the advantages inherent in the use ofother metals which also have excellent abrasive characteristics and donot rust as easily as steel wool pads. Aluminum, for example, is a metalwhich might appear to be admirably suitable for use in the manufactureof a wool type of scouring article. Yet it has been found extremelydifiicult to make a fine grade of aluminum wool. is because aluminum isof such innate softness that fine-grade strands tend to lose their shapeand to snap or break as the strand is being formed. Another metal whichwould appear to be highly advantageous for use in an intertwinedscouring pad is nickel. However, nickel has the property of hardening asit is worked, so that it will harden as it is being cut into strands andwill thereby become unsuitable for use in a scouring pad, which must, ofnecessity, be somewhat flexible. In addition, nickel is far tooexpensive to be used to form strands of commercial scouring articles forhousehold uses.

The present invention concerns an article produced by plating nickel,aluminum, or other metals or alloys on fibers of organic material. Suchan article has excellent abrasive characteristics and is rust-resistant,light in weight, and economical to manufacture.

It has been determined that optimum abrasive properties are achievedwhen the scouring article has a workcontacting surface which is hard,irregular, and flexible. Such a surface, when moved across the surfaceof work to be scoured, presents a series of structures which can beconformed to the surface of the Work and are harder than substances tobe removed from the work. Thus, for example, in a scouring action inwhich a household pot or pan is to be cleaned, a scouring article whichWill best perform this function is one which presents a succession ofsurfaces which are flexible enough to enter irregularities in the pansurface yet hard enough to force particles in the irregularitiestherefrom.

It has now been discovered that a web or batt formed ice from relativelyshort, intermingled, synthetic organic fibers so arranged with respectto one another as to provide a high degree of loft and flexibility, andhaving plated thereon a metal of suitable hardness, provides a scouringarticle which admirably incorporates all these important abrasiveproperties. A preferred batt has such a degree of loft that at leastpercent of its total volume consists of void spaces between the fibers.

Such a batt may be produced by a number of felting apparatus nowemployed in the textile art. Typically, a Rando-Webber Curlator machine,manufactured by the Curlator Corporation, of Rochester, New York, may beemployed. One such machine is described in US. Patent No. 2,890,497,issued June 16, 1959. I

A structure produced by such a machine preferably has applied thereto anadhesive serving to bond the randomly arranged fibers at their spacedpoints of contact, although such bonds may be created autogenously bythe employment of a fiber which is thermally activatable to a bondingcondition. Bonds may also be effected through the intermediation of themetal deposited.

Metal deposition can be achieved by vacuum and gas techniques which areknown in the art, electrodeposition being a less preferred method inview of the non-conductivity of the organic fibers employed to producethe batt. Methods and apparatus for the gas deposition of the metallicparticles are disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,759,- 848, issued August 21,1956, and US. Patent No. 2,763,- 576, issued September 18, 1956. Methodsand apparatus for vacuum deposition of metals are disclosed in US.Patents No. 2,756,166, issued July 24, 1956, and No. 2,793,609, issuedMay 28, 1957.

An article of the foregoing structure has superior abrasivecharacteristics in that it offers a plurality of working surfaces whichare both hard, spaced from one another, and flexible. The metallizedplastic fibers retain sufficient flexibility to permit the metallized,hard, working surfaces to conform generally to the plane or shape beingscoured. By virtue of the void spaces between the fibers of the batt,the hard surfaces of the metallized fibers are spaced sufficiently fromone another to present a series of hard structures to the surface of thework as the scouring article is advanced thereover. By reason of theopenness of the structure, matter removed from the Work is effectivelydisplaced into a non-functional locale of the article and hence does notinterfere Withthe securing action of the plated fibers. The plasticfibers from which the batt is produced generally lack the substanceneeded to provide a lofty, springy, spongiform body, but by thereinforcing or stiffening effect provided by metallizing the structure,a correspondingly stiffer, moreresilient character of the batt isassured.

It has also been discovered that plating a batt of randomly arrangedfibers serves a function in addition to reinforcing and hardening thefibers to produce a pad with excellent-abrasive characteristics. Wherethe batt has been sprayed with a liquid adhesive which binds fibers ofthe batt to each other at spaced locations where the fibers cross andcontact one another, the metallic plating serves to overlie the adhesiveand strengthen the adhesive bonds. When autogenous bonds have beenformed to stabilize the loft and shape of the batt, themetallic platingserves to reinforce those bonds. When there has been no prior bondingbetween the fibers of the batt, the

plating alone is utilized to form the bonds.

A batt according to any of the above-described structures may be platedeither on one or a multiplicity of surfaces thereof, or may be socontacted with molecular particles of metals or alloys that the fibersof the batt are completely plated throughout the batt; While a battwhichhas been completely plated would appear to have a longer workinglife, a batt which makes use of less metal in its plating will, ofcourse, present economic advantages. As a practical minimum it has beenfound that a batt should be plated to a depth of at least of an inchbelow one surface thereof.

The depth of plating of metal on fibers will necessarily vary inaccordance with the use to which the article is to be put and the metalwith which it is coated. In theory, the coating is molecular, i.e., alayer of molecules is deposited along the length of a fiber to a depthof one molecule only. However, in practice, depths up to about of aninch have been found advisable, and a depth of plating of approximatelyof an inch is desirable.

The lengths of filaments which have been found suitable for use informing batts according to this invention are from about /2 inch toabout 4 inches. Before the filaments have been plated or a binderapplied thereto, they have a fineness of from about 5 deniers to about85 deniers.

A wide variety of adhesives may be utilized to bind the adjoining fiberstogether in that embodiment of the invention where an adhesive binder isutilized. Such a binder is ordinarily cured prior to the plating of thebatt with a metal or alloy. After curing the adhesive may be flexible orinflexible. Where those parts of the batt to which an adhesive isapplied are later plated, the plating can be carried out so that theadhesive binder is completely covered by the metal. Such a structureenables a water-soluble adhesive to be used, such an adhesive usuallybeing substantially less expensive than a waterinsoluble adhesive.Although the finished pad is to be immersed in water, the Water-solubleadhesive will be protected from becoming tacky or from dissolving duringthe immersion because of its protective coating of metal.

Among those metals which are desirable for use in a plated scouringarticle are nickel, stainless steel, iron, copper, tin, aluminum, brass,bronze. Other metals and alloys which would be useful in plating a battwill, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art, the selectionof the particular metal utilized being dependent upon the use for whichthe scouring article is intended. In order to be operable for theintended purpose, the metallic particles selected should have a hardnessat least approaching and substantially equal to that of the surface tobe scoured.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention willbecome more apparent when considered in connection with the embodimentthereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which forms a parthereof, like reference characters referring to like parts, and in which:I

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing an embodiment of a scouring articleaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing in detail a group of fibers of anouter zone of the article of FIGS. 1 and .2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the inventionshowing in detail a group of fibers thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, a finishedscouring article, indicated generally by reference numeral 10, is shown.The article .10 is oval in shape and is formed from an intermingled massof fibers 11 plated with a continuous coating 12 of metallic particles.Joining the fibers 11 at spaced locations where they cross and contactone another are globules of adhesive, indicated as dark areas 13, whichare likewise plated with metal. (The size of areas 13 has beenexaggeratedfor emphasis.) Between the fibers is a net- Work of voids 14,which extends throughout the depth of the pad It).

The sectional view illustrated in FIG. 2 shows the degrees of density ofzones of the scouring article 18. In accordance with the embodimentthere illustrated,

4 the batt from which the scouring article has been formed has beensprayed with adhesive binder 13 on its upper surface 16 and lowersurface 17. Because of such spraying the zones 18 adjacent to thosesurfaces have become somewhat matted, while the central zone 19, havinga lesser quantity of adhesive binder therein, has a greater void volumeand has retained a greater degree of elasticity.

' The batt from which the scouring article It) has been formed haslikewise been sprayed or otherwise plated with metallic particlesapplied on the upper and lower surfaces 16 and 17. Thus the fibers 11 ofouter zones 18 have a coating 12 applied thereto, while the fibers ofthe central zone 19 are substantially uncoated by metallic particles.Since the coating 12 is very thin, the coated fibers appear only ifslightly greater in diameter than the uncoated fibers.

FIG. 3 illustrates a magnified view of an outer zone 13 of the articleit of FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 3 it will be seen that the metal particlesform a coating 12 which is of shallow, uniform depth along the lengthsof the fibers 11. At the spaced locations where the fibers i1 cross andcontact one another globules of adr hesive binder 13 are stationed. Themetallic particles are also plated on the globules of adhesive 13,forming a film 20 which encloses globules of binder l3 and is con-'nected at its ends to the adjoining fibers which the adhesive bindstogether. The film 20 serves to encapsulate and protect the globules ofbinder 13, as well as to strengthen the bond between the connectedfibers.

The modified pad 22 illustrated in FIG. 4 is similar to the pad 19,except that no adhesive binder has been used to join fibers 11 at thespaced locations where they cross and contact one another. Instead, afilm 21 of metallic particles bridges the grooves between fibers atlocations where they cross and contact one another and serves to bondthe fibers together at those locations. The scouring article of FIG. 4,wherein adjoining fibers are bonded together solely by film 21, may havezones of different densities similar to the zones of the pad of FIG. 2,or may be of uniform density throughout the depth of the pad. A battwhich is initially of uniform density can, upon the deposition ofmetallic particles by a method such as vacuum deposition, form the basisof a finished scouring article which will retain the uniform density ofthe original batt.

A variety of methods may be utilized to form a scouring articleaccording to this invention. For example, a batt may first be formed ona Curlator machine and an adhesive binder then applied by many knownmethods,

such as by spraying. Then a metallic coating can'be produced inaccordance with prior art processes to provide an article of the typeshown in FIG. 3. Another method consists of initially applying ametallic coating to a continuously moving filament, after which thefilament is cut into lengths of from about /2 inch to about 4 inches,

and then assembled to form a batt in whichthe fibers are in random,three-dimensional arrangement. An adhesive binder may be thereafterapplied to this batt to unite adjoining fibers thereof.

Examples of methods for preparing webs suitable for the subsequentdeposition of metals on surfaces thereof are as follows:

Example 1 Fibers consisting of 1 /2 inch lengths of crimped 16 denieracetate were intermingled on a Rando-Webber machine manufacturedby'Curlator Corp. and a web having a thickness of approximately A inchformed by the fibers. A binder adhesive of B. F. Goodrich Geon 576, amodified vinyl chloride polymer, was sprayed by means of a spray boothand horizontal reciprocating spray machine manufactured by Binks Mfg.Co. on the one surface of the web as it moved at a rate of ISft/min. Thequantity of binder adhesive sprayed was 4.3 on/yd. of a 50% solidsbinder. The web was then passed on a slat conveyor into a Fostoriainfra-red type drying and curing Example 2 Fibers of .15 denier crimpednylon 1 /2 inches in length were formed into a continuous inch web inthe same manner as the fiber of Example 1. The web was sprayed with anadhesive binder mixture consisting of 70% dry weight Hycar 2671, apolyacrylic latex of B. F. Goodrich 00.; 10% dry weight Geon 990 apolyvinyl acetate latex manufactured by B. F. Goodrich; and 20% dryweight Durez 14170, a phenol-formaldehyde resin manufactured by HookerChemical Corp. The web was moved at a velocity of 11 ft./min., and 10.5oz./yd. of a 50% solids adhesive binder was consecutively sprayed oneach side of the web, the web being passed through a Fostoria drying andcuring oven after each such spraying. The total dry weight of the webafter the curing and drying operation was 15.5 oz./yd.

The webs produced in accordance with the above examples were then platedwith metals. Examples of methods by which such plating was accomplishedare as follows:

Example 3 The web produced in accordance with Example 1 was gas platedby being passed through a gas lock heating zone which utilized hydrogengas to purge the batt during heating. In the heating zone the web washeated to a temperature of 300 F. The web was then passed to a platingZone where it was exposed to nickel carbonyl vaporized in hydrogen gas.With the temperature of the web at approximately 300 F., a $4 inchdeposition of nickel was plated on the surfaces of the web in 3 toseconds residence time of the. web in the plating zone. After plating,the web was carried into a nitrogen gas lock cooling chamber and therepermitted to cool to room temperature. The web was then cut intoportions of suitable length.

Example 4 The web produced according to Example 2 was vacuum plated withaluminum. The web was first degassed in a vacuum-treating machine whichpulled the web forward and backward to remove contaminants. The web wasthen passed through a vacuum chamber and aluminum, vaporized by acarbon-tantalum boat filament heated by passing an electnic currenttherethrough, was deposited on the web in the vacuum chamber. A batch of2,000 feet of web was metallized at a rate of about 20 ft./min.Including the time for loading and unloading the unmetallized andmetallized webs, respectively, the vacuum plating procedure for the2,000 feet of web consumed approximately 1 /2 to 1% hours.

Scouring articles, as described hereinbefore and illustrated in FIGS. 1,2, 3 and 4 may be further modified in accordance with their intendeduses. For example, a soap or synthetic detergent may be impregnated inthe batt, the globules of soap or detergent clinging to the fibers alongtheir lengths and permitting the retention of a network of voidsthroughout the article. may be fixed on one surface of the batt by meansof a suitable binder to enable the batt to be easily gripped andmanipulated in household uses. Abrasive grit may be mixed with theadhesive binder and stationed on the fibers.

A handle Thus, while the present invention has been described withparticular reference to specific embodiments of the scouring article, itis to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by thoseembodiments, but that its scope is to be determined only by reference tothe follow .ing appended claims.

' What is claimed is:

1. An article suitable for scouring a surface, consisting of athree-dimensional batt composed of organic fibers which are intermingledto form a filamentary structure, an abrasive bonding together aplurality of said fibers at spaced locations where they cross andcontact one another to unite said fibers at said locations and produce abatt which resumes its original shape after compression, and a platingof metallic particles at least on fibers at a surface of said batt, saidmetallic particles having a hardness at least 'substantiaily equal tothat of said surface and being distributed in relatively shfllow depthsalong the lengths of said fibers and, at said spaced locations,overlying said adhesive and strengthening the bonds provided thereby.

2. An article suitable for scouring a surface, consisting of a threedirnensional batt composed of organic fibers activatable to an adhesivecondition and intermingled to form a filamentary structure, a pluralityof said fibers having been activated to an adhesive condition and thenset while said fibers were in contact with one another at spacedlocations to autogenously bond said fibers together at said locationsand form a resilient lofty batt, and a plating of metallic particles atleast on fibers at a surface of said batt, said metallic particleshaving a hardness at least substantially equal to that of said surfaceand being distributed in a relatively shallow, uniform depth along thelengths of said fibers and, at said spaced locations, forming acontinuous film linking said fibers at said locations and strengtheningthe bonds thereat.

3. A method of making an article suitable for scouring a surface,consisting, in sequence, of interrningling a pinrality of organic fibersin random arrangement to form an open high loft structure, bonding saidfibers together at locations where they cross and contact one another tounite said fibers at said locations and produce a batt which resumes itsoriginal shape after compression, and then plating metallic particleshaving a hardness at least substantially equal to that of said surfaceon said fibers along the lengths thereof at least at one surface of saidbatt.

4. A method is claimed in claim 3, in which the fibers are plated to adepth of from one molecular layer of the metal to about i of an inch.

5. A method is claimed in claim 3, in which the fibers are plated to adepth of about lfi of an inch.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, in which said metallic particles areplated on said fibers by means of vacuum deposition.

7, A method as claimed in claim 3, in which said metallic particles areplated on said fibers by means of gas deposition.

8. A method as claimed in claim 3, metallic particles are nickel.

9. ,A method as claimed in claim 3, in which said metallic particles arealuminum.

in which said References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,699,415 Nachtman Jan. 11, 1955 2,940,886 Nachtman June 14,1960 3 HQQ er at a l a--- N .0

1. AN ARTICLE SUITABLE FOR SCOURING A SURFACE, CONSISTING OF ATHREE-DIMENSIONAL BATT COMPOSED OF ORGANIC FIBERS WHICH ARE INTERMINGLEDTO FORM A FILAMENTARY STRUCTURE, AN ABRASIVE BONDING TOGETHER APLURALITY OF SAID FIBERS AT SPACED LOCATIONS WHERE THEY CROSS ANDCONTACT ONE ANOTHER TO UNITE SAID FIBERS AT SAID LOCATIONS AND PRODUCE ABATT WHICH RESUMES ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE AFTER COMPRESSION, AND A PLATINGOF METALLIC PARTICLES AT LEAST ON FIBERS AT A SURFACE OF SAID BATT, SAIDMETALLIC PARTICLES HAVING A HARDNESS AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TOTHAT OF SAID SURFACE AND BEING DISTRIBUTED IN RELATIVELY SHALLOW DEPTHSALONG THE LENGTHS OF SAID FIBERS AND, AT SAID SPACED LOCATIONS,OVERLYING SAID ADHESIVE AND STRENGTHENING THE BONDS PROVIDED THEREBY.